Facing It Together
by mamaXunicorn
Summary: A Tallahassee AU: What could have happened instead of Neal leaving Emma that night.


_**A/N: Another one from tumblr, a sort of AU where Neal didn't leave Emma to go to Jail. It was written at some point during season 3 so nothing in season 4 ( aka Ingrid and all the magic talk to Teen Emma) happened here.**_

* * *

Emma frowned at the time displayed on the watch. It was five minutes past nine and there was no sign of Neal. He had made it perfectly clear that they were to meet at nine o'clock sharp and him not being there was extremely worrisome.

She pulled out her phone and called the only number she had in her contacts. It rang and rang and rang and she hung up once it finally clicked to voicemail.

What if he was caught? She wondered, dread starting to course through her veins. She had come to adjust to living with someone, she didn't know what she'd do if she had to be on her own again. She could survive, that was for sure. Being with Neal for so long taught her how to be more stealthy when thieving and she did have the bug but she didn't want to be alone again. She _couldn't_ be alone again. They were supposed to be together, move to Tallahassee and have a real life, be a family.

She stole another glance at her watch. Another two minutes passed. "Neal, where are you?" She whispered into the night.

It was another five minutes before she heard quick approaching footsteps from around the corner. She jumped and held her breath, her wide eyes focusing on the sound and hoping, praying that it was Neal.

Sure enough his familiar face came around the corner and she heaved a sigh of relief. "Neal..."

However, that relief quickly faded back to worry at the frazzled look on his face. Once he was close enough he reached out for her hand and gave her a gentle tug. "Let's go." He said quickly.

Whatever happened shook Neal up pretty well. Emma couldn't remember ever seeing Neal like this before, even when he found that wanted poster he was generally calm, and she figured he'd want to wait until they were in the safety of their car before talking about it.

They walked in hurried silence the few blocks Emma had parked the car and once the yellow bug was in his sight, Neal started to run, Emma following cluelessly behind him. He opened the passenger side for her and then bolted over to the driver's side, hopping in the car and slamming the door behind him. Emma was already seated in the passenger side and watching him in concern as he pulled away from the curb and drove quickly down the street.

His eyes were wide, his breathing heavy and he tapped his fingers anxiously against the steering wheel. Emma furrowed her brow and slowly reached over to place her hand over his. Her heart nearly dropped as he tensed against her touch. "Neal, what's going on? What happened?"

He took a deep breath and looked over to her and the way he was eyeing her made her heart sink. It was like he was looking at her for the first time...and he didn't like what he saw. Still, she refused to let go of him and her thumb lightly caressed the back of his hand. "Neal?" She pressed.

He turned his eyes back to the road and blinked slowly. After another moment of silence, he removed his hand, the one that hers was holding, off the steering wheel and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a large stack of bills and handing it to her.

"You got it." She smiled, the whole thing feeling a bit surreal. It was the first time she ever held more than a few bucks in her hands. But that feeling quickly faded as she looked back over at Neal to see him still tense. "You don't seem happy about it..."

Neal let out a sigh and dropped his shoulders, his face finally softening as he glanced over to her. "Of course I'm happy about it, Emma."

She frowned. "Then what's wrong?" She once again reached out to take his hand and felt a little twinge of relief as he entwined their fingers together. "What happened back there?"

His brow creased and he frowned as he remembered exactly what had happened.

" _...and so you see, Emma has to break the curse."_

 _Neal's jaw was tense as he stared at the ground and then flickered his dark eyes up to August. "No." He whispered fiercely and August furrowed his brow. Neal cleared his throat and stared him directly in the yes. "No." He said again and pointed viciously at the man in front of him. "Just because you didn't do your job and protect her doesn't mean that I'm going to leave her."_

 _August sighed heavily. "She has to-"_

" _I know what she has to do but she doesn't have to do it alone!" Neal countered. "And I am not going to leave her and send her to jail because you failed to take care of her when you should have. Now its my turn to take care of her and curse or no curse, that's what I'm going to do." He glared heavily at the man in front of him and then turned to leave._

" _Baelfire-"_

 _Neal froze, his body going rigid. It was bad enough this stranger knew who he was to begin with. He growled under his breath and turned back to August, glowering darkly. "Don't call me that." He hissed. "It's Neal and you have no right to demand anything from either of us. If you care about her as much as you say you do then you'd let us go. She deserves to be happy for once in her life and I am not going to let her be alone again just for the sake of some stupid curse."_

 _August walked toward him, a frown on his face. "It's not just about her, her parents are there, a whole land of people that need to be saved and Emma is the only one-"_

" _And I'll get her there!" Neal cut him off fiercely. "What was it her 28th birthday? I'll bring her there." He stepped forward, meeting the other man's stare head on. "I don't care what you tell me...you could have my father hiding behind that wall and I still wouldn't leave her. I love her and I am going to take care of her and on her 28th birthday, I will personally drive her to this town so she can fulfill her "destiny"." He sneered mockingly and then glared at August for a few more long seconds before he held up the bag of watches. "This...this is going to take care of her, going to take care of us. I'm taking her to Florida and we're going to have a normal life together and when that time comes...I'll make sure she's where she's supposed to be."_

 _August sighed and looked down, shaking his head. "You are making a mistake."_

" _No...she needs me. And I need her and neither of us need you." He shifted the bag of watches over his shoulder and fixed a glare on him. "So leave us alone." He warned darkly before walking away leaving August in the dark alley._

Neal scoffed lightly and shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Emma pressed her lips together. "Try me."

Neal looked over at her and smiled softly at the cute look of determination on her face. He squeezed her hand gently, "Not here...not now."

"When?" She asked.

"Tallahassee."

* * *

It took several days to drive from Portland to Tallahassee and one of the first things they did with the money was get a clean VIN number for the car and safeguard their identities. They found a rather cheap but nice apartment, and Emma was rather disappointed to quickly discover Tallahassee was nowhere near a beach, but they settled in happy regardless, just because they were together.

They were resting on their nice and comfortable new couch in their apartment, Emma curled into his side when she asked again. "What happened that night in Portland?"

He immediately tensed beneath her and her hand started to rub gentle circles against his chest to try and sooth him.

"Emma..." He sighed quietly.

"Neal." She looked up at him. "You promised you'd tell me once we got to Tallahassee. We're in Tallahassee...so tell me."

He frowned as he looked down, biting on his lip softly. He knew he'd have to tell her eventually but the thought scared him. How would she ever accept it as truth? No sane person would...

"Are you in trouble?" She asked. "Because Neal...we were thieves together, there's nothing you can tell me that would scare me off."

He scoffed lightly and lifted his brow. "I don't know about that." He muttered and her brow furrowed in concern and he shook his head. "No...I'm not in trouble."

"Then what is it?"

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a long moment. "I ran into a friend of yours." He said finally.

She turned her head. "A friend...Neal, I don't have any friends."

His eyes opened. "His name was August." She blinked at him cluelessly. "He said you were in the same foster home as kids."

"Oh..." She frowned, knitting her brow together. "I barely remember that...I don't think I could remember anyone's name."

He nodded, clenching his jaw, hardly thinking Emma would remember him anyway. "Well anyway, um, the thing is...he knows about my past."

Emma sat up slowly and eyed him in shock. "What? How?"

He laughed bitterly. "That's a very good question." He let out a sigh. "I don't know how but he does and..." He bit his lip and shook his head. "There's more to it than what I told you."

Emma frowned in confusion and he closed his eyes, hardly believing he was getting into this with her. Emma was supposed to be the one he forgot about his past with not the one that thrust him back into it.

"Neal." Her sweet voice was soothing and she once again started to rub his chest. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to...I know how painful those memories are for you."

At that, a small smile tugged at his lips and his eyes fluttered open to look at her. Regardless of who she was and where she was from, she loved him and he loved her too much to let his past stop them from being together. Though whether or not the actual truth about his past would scare her away is another story.

His arm that was thrown lightly over her shoulders, tightened around her and pulled her closer and he pressed a tender kiss to the side of her head. "I want to tell you." He said. "But you're going to have to bare with me because...its difficult and complicated and..." He let out a breath. "You might think I'm insane."

Emma pursed her lips and crinkled her eyes, a look that said 'that's never going to happen.' He just simply smiled slightly and ran his fingertips along her arm as he prepared himself.

"Okay," He sighed as he started, "I guess I'll start with the easiest. I wasn't born as Neal Cassidy...in fact I've only been Neal for a fraction of my life."

Her brow pressed together slightly but she still looked eager to listen. He scrunched up his face, saying it for the first time since he came to this world, "My name is Baelfire."

Emma's brow shot up. She didn't recognize the name, she couldn't have, there are no story books in this land that talk about him at all and he checked. The name however was a very unique one and one that she had never heard before. "Baelfire." She repeated and there was an odd sort of chill that ran up his spine at the sound of his true name on her lips. "So..is that like...from another country or something?"

He let out a small laugh and shook his head. "Not exactly."

She shook her head in confusion and he let out yet another sigh. "This is the part where I'm going to sound crazy but I swear, everything I say is true."

Emma nodded quietly and settled against him, her eyes wide and curious.

"I'm...from another world." He admitted and her eyes widened even more and he was quick to continue. "I'm not saying I'm an alien or anything...I'm fully human. It's..." He sighed and ran his free hand through his hair. "This is very complicated..."

"It's okay." She gave him a small smile. "I'll try to understand."

He lifted his brow and his lips tugged upwards. This woman would always surprise him.

"Alright," He continued slowly, "I'm from somewhere called the Enchanted Forest."

"The Enchanted Forest..." Emma repeated skeptically.

"Yes." He nodded, swallowing thickly. "And...what I told you about my father is...generally true. He abandoned me when I was fourteen but...there's so much more to it. We were going to escape that land together to come here to this land." He closed his eyes for a moment, he could feel Emma's stare burning into him. "There was magic in that land...real magic...and my father became something known as 'the Dark One'. He possessed the greatest and darkest magic in all the realms and it started to change him, make him evil. The only way to cure him without killing him was to get to a land where magic didn't exist. I found something that would open a portal to this land and he agreed to come with me but at the last second...he let me go...let me fall through the portal all by myself."

He finally reopened his eyes and looked down at Emma who was gaping at him silently. "Em?" He prompted after a long moment of silence.

She slowly blinked and shook her head to clear her head. "Um...okay. So...you're from another land...called the Enchanted Forest and your father is a...dark wizard?"

Neal scoffed lightly and looked down for a moment. "More or less."

Emma ran her fingers over the top of her head and scratched, clearly trying to wrap her head around everything. She let out a long breath and then nodded her head. "Alright..."

"You believe me?" He furrowed his brow.

She looked at him with a slight shrug. "It's a pretty unbelievable story but I know you wouldn't make something up like that."

He smiled softly and nodded. "Good...that's good." He pressed his lips together as he looked at her, debating whether or not he should drop another bomb on her so soon but he figured it would be best to do it all at once. "Because Emma...you're from there too."

Her face slowly fell as she stared at him wide-eyed. "Excuse me?" she whispered after a moment.

He pressed his lips together and nodded. "You're from the Enchanted Forest." He laughed softly. "A different point in time than me...but the same world...and you came here pretty much the same way I did."

"Neal..." She whispered, shaking her head and slowly pulling away from him. "My parents abandoned me on the side of the highway..."

"No..." He shook his head. "That's just where you landed when you came through." He scrunched his face up and reached out to take her hand, rubbing his fingers against hers comfortingly before looking back up and into her eyes. "Your parents sent you here through a magical wardrobe to save your life."

Emma continued to shake her head, looking down at their hands. "Save my life..." She whispered. "From what?"

He let out a soft sigh. "A curse...a curse that would bring everyone from that land to this one without their memories and separated from everyone they love."

Emma collapsed against the back of the couch, resting her hand on her forehead. "This is insane..." She muttered and looked back up at him. "Neal...what the hell is going on?"

"I know, Emma, I know." He moved closer to her and slipped his arms around her and she fell against him with no resistance. "I know its a lot to take in."

She scoffed. "That's an understatement." She looked up at him with a frown. "You're not...playing some sort of game with me are you?"

"Emma..." He whispered, shaking his head slightly. "I would never do that to you, okay? This...is as big of a shock to me as it is to you. I came here to escape from anything to do with that land or magic and I certainly never expected to meet or fall in love with the one person who came from there."

"This really isn't a joke?" She asked once more and he shook his head.

"Honestly...I wish it was but its not. And...the worst part of it is...I think its my fault."

"Your fault?" She shook her head. "How could it be your fault?"

He swallowed and looked down and took a deep breath. "What I used to open the portal was a magic bean...and it was the last of its kind. My father is probably looking for me and the only thing he could do was create this curse...a curse that would not only bring him here but everyone else...and if it wasn't for that curse...you'd still be with your parents...living the life you should have...loved...as a princess."

"A princess?" She splutter. "Me?"

"Yeah." He said quietly with a nod. "Your parents, Emma...are Snow White and Prince Charming."

She pushed back and gave him an incredulous look. "Oh come on."

"I'm serious!" He insisted. "Look, the Enchanted Forest is a land full of people that this world knows to be fairy tale characters. To this world, they're just stories but they are real people, Emma. You and I...we escaped before they could ever know our names or that we're part of these stories. Rumplestiltskin doesn't have a son in any of this world's story books but..." He shrugged. "Here I am."

Her eyes widened. "Rumplestiltskin...you're Rumplestiltskin's son?"

He nodded quietly, wincing only slightly at the name. "Yes, I am."

"And I..." She trailed off and shook her head. "No! Neal...that's...I can't be a princess!"

"By blood you are." He reached over and touched the side of her face softly and she took a shuddering breath, her wide eyes staring back at him. "And they sent you here...not only to save your life but in the hopes that one day you'd come back and save theirs."

"What?" Emma whispered.

"They're cursed, Emma. Your parents are here...but they're cursed. And on your twenty-eighth birthday, you are going to find them and save them."

"Neal..." She whispered, shaking her head slowly and he grabbed her face lightly with both of his hands and pressed his forehead against hers.

"I know." He whispered. "I know its crazy but you have ten years to let it sink in and I promise you, I'm never going to leave you and on that day, your twenty-eighth birthday, we will go together and find your parents and save our home."

Emma let out a slow breath and just sat there for a few minutes, holding onto Neal as tight as she could. Then she slowly pulled away to look into his eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips. "You're going to stay with me for ten years?"

"Em," He brushed his thumb against her cheek softly. "I'm going to stay with you forever."

A bright smile spread across her lips and she threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder. She sat there for another minute before pulling back again and nodding. "I'm not going to pretend this doesn't confuse me...or accept that I fully believe it but I love you and if you're going to be with me...I'll do anything."

He smiled back at her. "You need time to think about it...its not something you hear everyday."

"That's for sure." She scoffed but smiled. "But if you say its true then it has to be."

He turned his head. "You really have that much faith in me?"

Her smile widened and she nodded. "You're the only one who ever loved me and look where we are..." She looked around at their apartment with a smile. "What good would come of you lying to me? Especially about this? It's insane...but you wouldn't do that to me."

"Damn right I wouldn't." He whispered sincerely. "You're the only good thing in my life."

"And you're the only good thing in mine." She smiled as she squeezed his hands. "If I really do have to find my parents and save them from this curse...I can do that...as long as I have you."

He smiled as he started to lean into her. "You'll always have me."

"And that's all that matters." She whispered before their lips met in a kiss.


End file.
